Throughout the novel, Stone explores the difficulties for young people, particularly black males, in navigating their lives with the constant opposing forces of outside influences. Stone's case study focuses on Justyce, who by all accounts is a good kid with the intelligence and drive to do great things. However, as Justyce laments to Dr. King in one of his letters, "It's like I'm trying to climb a mountain, but I've got one fool trying to shove me down so I won't be on his level, and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave" (66).

Stone explores the forces that Justyce encounters that push him down to keep him from achieving true equality. First, Castillo's assumption that Justyce's Blackness meant he was a criminal stirs anger and frustration in Justyce. Quan expresses a similar frustration when he explains that he stopped trying to do the right thing when the criminal justice system treated him differently because of the color of his skin. In these moments, Stone offers insight into some of the negative impacts that law enforcement and racial profiling can have on black youth, causing them to believe they are not equal and prompting them to act in frustration or defeat.